Busch Clash Field Set With 17 Drivers

Speedweeks notebook

February 9, 1996|By Javier Solano of The Sentinel Staff

The starting lineup for Sunday's 18th annual Busch Clash (noon, WCPX-Ch. 6), the first stock-car racing event of Speedweeks '96 at Daytona International Speedway, was set via random drawing of numbers Thursday. The order, from pole position to last row, looks like this:

''There's only one way to go, and that's to the front,'' said Gordon, the defending Winston Cup series champion. ''I went from the back to the front in last year's Busch Clash, but there weren't 17 cars in it, either.''

The field of 17 cars - 15 Busch Pole Award winners from the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup season, last year's Busch Series Pole champion (Green) and one randomly-drawn Busch Second-Round qualifier (Marcis) - is the largest ever for this event. Earnhardt, who has six victories in nine career Busch Clash starts, will attempt to win his second in a row and third in four years.

''This is my kind of race,'' Earnhardt said.

''. . . We can practice coming from the rear (first 10 laps) and see what we can do.''

The race is 20 laps (50 miles) around Daytona's 2.5-mile oval, broken up into two 10-lap segments. After 10 laps, the field is reset in the opposite order of their finish for the final 10 laps. Drivers earn prize money according to their finish at the end of both 10-lap segments, but only the winner of the second segment is declared Busch Classic champion.

NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch Clash drivers will begin their practice runs today, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., joining the ARCA and IROC cars that have been testing at Daytona International Speedway since Wednesday. Admission to the infield or for unreserved grandstand seats is $6.

SPEEDWEEKS ON WEB

FOR THE first time at Daytona, race fans can access Speedweeks '96 information through the Internet via the World Wide Web. Daytona's official web site is http://speedweeks.com.

The site, created by WebAdept, Inc. of Daytona Beach and launched Feb. 1, features lists of race entries, driver quotes, qualifying results, race lineups, results, ticket information, television and radio schedules, Daytona history and preview information on Daytona USA - Daytona's multi-million dollar motorsports attraction scheduled to open July 5.

TRICKLE STILL GOING

RALSTON PURINA'S first venture into NASCAR Winston Cup sponsorship will include Dick Trickle. The veteran Winston Cup driver, formerly running in the No. 15 Quality Care Fords car, will now drive the No. 63 Schnell Motorsports car, beginning with the Daytona 500 on Feb. 18. Trickle, 54, is searching for his first Winston Cup victory after three career third-place finishes.